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Sunday, 30 June 2013

The Mulberry Autumn/Winter 2013 campaign
celebrates the beauty and mystery of the English countryside, combined
with the elegant grandeur of an English country manor. Shot by Tim
Walker, starring Cara Delevingne.

Enjoy the MULBERRY fashion show video at the end of this post! Love, Andrea

Tousled, woolly, and in a beautiful shade
of pearly gray, and that was just the standard poodle that made not one
but two appearances in the Mulberry collection. Having some canines work the
runway, trotting up and down, looking like any minute they might
stray literally from the script, and make their way out the door, has
become something of a delightfully daffy Mulberry tradition ever since
the brand came under Emma Hill’s creative direction six
years ago. It’s all part of the quirky, youthful, and anarchically
tongue-in-chic spirit she has wanted to bring to what she does; luxury
with a laugh or two along the way. All of this attitude is incredibly
British, it’s worth noting, redolent of the kinds of worlds depicted in
London photographer Merry Brownfield’s recent book, Merry England,
a paean to the age-old practice of Morris dancing and the like. Sly and
subversive had a stranglehold on this country way before punk’s spiky
and snarling arrival on the scene.

Yet this season a
quieter, statelier tradition was on Hill’s mind, and that would be this
forty-one-year-old British company’s way with crafting a bag. Not that
she’s not been serious about it before, but those purses the Alexa, the
Del Rey were oftentimes as tricked up as a kid’s toy. Not so with Hill’s
new crop of purses, dubbed the Suffolk, that historic, rural English
county that stretches from Waveney to Forest Heath. Gorgeously
understated and stripped of irony, her Suffolk bags came constructed
with a frame back and swung from the hand with a discreet strap, and all
were whipped up in the likes of oxblood alligator, pheasant-green
ostrich, and classic calf leather in black or off-white. They were
effortlessly grown–up and glamorous and indicated the general direction
that Hill is taking for fall.

That was entirely evident from the
opening looks, which showcased English outdoorsy tweediness, like a
shearling collared blue checked boucle coat and a tunic in a floral
meadow print over pants in a smaller flower sprig motif; layering was a
dominant theme, with trousers-under-skirts galore, though the best was
the combination of a long oversized cozy checked sweater atop a spangled
short dress and deep blue crop pants. Elsewhere, there were luxurious
expressions of what Mulberry is capable of as a house, which would be
its short capes and sculpted pleated skirts in oxblood or midnight blue
nappa leather; those skirts, in particular, being some of the best
examples of a trend that has been gathering steam ever since the opening
days of New York. Hill teamed all of this with a kicky
high-block-heeled loafer, graphically worked in leather or exotic skins.
It was the perfect choice traditional yet twisted, and totally
Mulberry.

'Sensuality and passion, a meeting of the sacred and the profane:
discover the new Fall/Winter Women's campaign shot by Domenico Dolce and
starring Monica Bellucci, Bianca Balti, Kate King and Andreea Diaconu.'

Saturday, 29 June 2013

As Italy’s debate about keeping its sartorial traditions alive in a global economy fuels the local fashion fray, Roberto Cavalli
and his wife and creative partner, Eva Cavalli, unveiled a surprisingly
languorous collection that, with its eclectic blend of Indian, Moorish,
and Arabian nuances, felt a thousand miles away from the designer’s
hometown.

In fact, it’s almost as if Lucy Honeychurch, E. M. Forster’s protagonist from Room with a View,
packed up her trunks and fled Florence for Morocco, Rajasthan, or Java,
along the way picking up great pairs of cropped and artfully faded
jeans with colorful embroidered hems, pretty batik day dresses, and,
naturally, a lot of animal prints. Cavalli’s approach to heavily
patterned and fluid silk pants; loose, cropped jackets; and billowing,
bohemian frocks this season felt particularly louche.

Seductive
and exotic detours aside, the collection also trumpeted a savvy,
practical city attitude. Cropped white pants embellished with tiny
mirrors were paired with a matching top and a clean biker jacket adorned
with zippers just the thing for hopping on the back of a Vespa. More of
those decorated bombers were thrown casually over the house’s signature
slinky, sparkly evening frocks, which carried an almost twenties
influence with their intricate beading and drop-waist silhouette. They
were a romantic, cool look that blended the past with the present.

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Sensuality and passion, a meeting of the sacred and the profane:
discover the new Fall/Winter Women's campaign shot by Domenico Dolce and
starring Monica Bellucci, Bianca Balti, Kate King and Andreea Diaconu.

"Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana drew on the workmanship and allure of these painstakingly produced
mosaics and used them for their stunning vision (heavenly or otherwise)
of elaborately gilded and embroidered glamour: dresses that gently
traced the lines of the body to a few inches above the ankle, or which
were cut loose and short, and bejeweled tees worn with even more
bejeweled tiny skirts ..." Discover amazing Behind The Scenes!